First grade: Rembrandt Portraits

                                                         Self-Portrait in Fur Hat, 1631

First graders learned how to use lines to draw value. This was a rigorous lesson as they had to practice drawing multiple value charts using different types of lines (cross hatch, stipple, etc). Once they achieved fluidity with their marks, they sketched Rembrandt's portrait in pencil and used various kinds of marks to achieve the shaded and lit areas of his face. I think they came out beautifully. 

Second Grade: Hokusai Mount Fuji Prints

Students learned about ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai, and his famous Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji prints. They looked at photo references of Mt. Fuji and carved their own design on a sheet of styrofoam. Using multiple colors of printing ink at a time, students achieved Hokusai's vibrant color gradations on their prints. 

Middle School: Printed Pillows

Acrylic print on muslin

Prints made by wrapping a wooden block with thread and painting over with acrylic. 

Third and Fourth Grade: Trees in Tints and Shades

Acrylic on paper

Third and Fourth Grade: Drapery

Graphite on charcoal paper

Kindergarten: Paul Cezanne's Apples and Pears

In this lesson, I had students look at the fruits not as apples or pears, but as shapes. After all, isn't that how Cezanne himself saw his still lifes? "Reproduce nature in terms of the cylinder and the sphere and the cone". Students took a soft pastel and drew three irregular circles and a "flat" circle, or oval, for the plate underneath. Before they colored in their fruit, we looked at how Cezanne's brushstrokes were very visible and not blended in, so they used the flat side of the pastel to create geometric strokes. The last step was to outline their fruit with black pastel and add a shadow underneath their plate. I love how these turned out!

Kindergarten: Warhol Soup Cans

This was a color based project inspired by Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans. Each student brought in a Campbell's soup can and wrapped it with paper they painted themselves. They also came up with a fun, interesting flavor. Vanilla soup anyone?